Markham & Fitz

A group of University of Arkansas alumni pooled their savings in 2014 to start making bean-to-bar chocolate in Bentonville, Arkansas.

About Markham & Fitz

Based in
Bentonville, Arkansas
Founded
2014
Known for
bean-to-bar chocolate

Markham & Fitz began in 2014, when a few University of Arkansas graduates put their savings into their first chocolate-making equipment. The company works in Bentonville, Arkansas, and makes its chocolate bean to bar, starting from whole cacao beans.

The makers say they chose to source cacao transparently, in the hope that a chocolate bar could mean higher wages for the farmers who grow it.

Markham & Fitz questions

What does bean-to-bar mean?

A bean-to-bar maker buys whole cacao beans and roasts and grinds them itself, making the chocolate from scratch. Along the way the beans are sorted, roasted, cracked into small pieces called nibs, ground and refined, then molded into bars. Markham & Fitz has made its chocolate this way in Bentonville, Arkansas, since 2014, and says it chooses to source its cacao transparently.

What do US rules say about chocolate percentages?

Under US rules, chocolate sold as semisweet or bittersweet must contain at least 35 percent chocolate liquor by weight, and milk chocolate at least 10 percent. Chocolate liquor is not alcohol: it is the paste made by finely grinding cacao nibs, the cracked pieces of roasted cacao bean, and half or more of it is cocoa butter, the bean's natural fat. As a bean-to-bar maker, Markham & Fitz grinds its own.

See all brands